Telegraphic instrument.



N0. 676,436. Patented lune I8, I90! u. T. JOHNSON.

TELEGRAPH") INSTRUMENT.

(Application filed July 5, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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HARRY T. JOHNSON, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

TELEGRAPHIC INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 676,436, dated June 18,1901.

Application filed July 5, 1900.

To all whom/ it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY T. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Jersey City, Hudson county, New Jersey, (post-ofliceaddress 32 Oortlandt street, borough of Manhattan, city of New York,)have invented certain new and useful Improvements in TelegraphicInstruments, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification.

In the practice of the art of telegraphy the operator in sending amessage depends upon the operation of his sounder to guide him in themanner in which his message is being transmitted over the line. Underperfect line conditions the movements of the key are accurately andsatisfactorily transmitted through the relay to the sounder; but whenowing to atmospheric conditions or to escapes and induction on the linethe relay operates sluggishly and the sounder fails to respond promptlyto the movement of the key and the two instruments do not work in exactunison the operator experiences great difficulty in properlytransmitting and the nervous strain imposed upon him by the effort tobring his key and sounder into unison soon becomes extremely exhausting.This fact is well recognized by practical telegraphers and the object ofmy invention is to overcome the difficulty by the provision of amechanical connection between the key and the sounder (the two beingalso connected electrically in the customary manner) by which themovement of the key is mechanically transmitted directly to thesounder-lever without in any way interfering with or affecting itselectrical operation. The sender is thus enabled to determine exactlyand easily how the message is being transmitted without being requiredto follow and allow for any sluggishness which may exist in theoperation of the relay, while the sounder, notwithstanding themechanical connection between the sounder-lever and the key, will befree to operate electrically in the normal manner and to respond withoutinterference or modification of its action to the operator at the otherend of the line.

To this end-my invention consists in the construction, combination, andarrangement struction arranged for practical operation, I

the circuits and electrical connections not being shown. Fig. 2 is aplanview showing the connecting-lever swung to one side and out ofengagement with the sounder-lever.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate correspondingparts in both views.

The sounder A and key B are secured to a suitable base or support 0 inthe usual manner, but in approximately the relative position shown. Thesounder A is of the usual construction and is provided with the pivotedarmature-lever a. The key B, except as hereinafter described, is also ofthe usual construction. The key-leverb, however, instead of beingprovided with the ordinary contactscrew at its rear end is fitted toreceive a screw-threaded adjustable support D, the lower end of whichprojects below the keylever to serve as a contact tolimit the movementof the key-lever. A lock-nut cl serves to secure the support D in theposition to which it may be adjusted. An arm E is carried by the supportD, one end of said arm being apertured to fit loosely upon said support.The arm E may be adjusted at any desired height upon the support D andis clamped firmly in position by the lock-nuts e and e. The free end ofthe arm E (which is preferably made of spring metal, so that it willflex slightly under transverse strain) extends under the rear end of'thesounder lever, and the position of the arm on its support D is soadjusted that when the sounder lover a is in its normal position, asshown in Fig. 1, the end of the arm E will be just in contact with theunder side of the sounderlever. however, are not connected in any way,so that the sounder-lever is entirely free to operate electrically inthe normal manner and without readjustment or manipulation of any kind.The upper end of the support D may terminate in a head d, by which thead j ustment previously mentioned may be conveniently made. 4

The arm E and the sounder-lever a,

IOO

It will now be apparent that any movement of the key-lever will beaccurately reproduced by the sounder-lever without any interference withthe electrical operation of the latter and that the operator candetermine exactly how his message is being transmitted notwithstandingthe existence of abnormal or unsatisfactory circuit conditions.

Having thus shown and described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, i s- 1. The combination with atelegraphic key and a telegraphic sounder, of an arm connected with thekey-lever and arranged to engage with and exert an upward pressure onthe sounder-lever when the key-lever is depressed, said arm being freefrom positive connection with the sounder-lever, whereby saidsounder-lever may be operated electrically without operating thekey-lever.

2. The combination with a telegraphic key and a telegraphic sounder, ofan arm connected with the key-lever and arranged to engage with andexert an upward pressure on the sounder-lever when the key-lever isdepressed and means for adjusting the position of said arm withoutvarying the adjustment of the sounder-lever.

3. The combination witha telegraphic key and a telegraphic sounder, ofan arm arranged to engage with and exert an upward 7 j depressed, saidarm being free from positive connection with the sounder-lever, wherebysaid sounder-lever may be operated mechanically by the key withoutinterfering with the electrical operation of the sounder-lever.

' HARRY T. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

WARREN S. STUTTS, ARTHUR F. THOMPSON.-

